A leader that leads

This is an interesting time in the leadership of the United States. The obvious leader is the President of the United States. Like or dislike there are certainly things that you have to admire about his leadership. He has not backed down from a challenge he has faced. Unfortunately for the credibility of his leadership the decisions he has made have not worked out. His appointees to positions of leadership have turned out to be some of his worst decisions, i.e. Rummy as Sec. Def. The image below is another prime example.



The NCAA tournament has also brought about some potential leaders, as it does every year. This years George Mason is ironically the once glorified and much troubled running rebs of UNLV. The UNLV Head Coach Lon Kruger has taken a program that was put on probation for the sins of their success, and resurrected them. He has done so this season with the help of his son. Making it to the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament is no short order, the way that UNLV has done it screams quality leadership.

Recently I stumbled on a leader that has been somewhat unexpected. The only reason for the unexpectedness of this leader is the reverse association. Bob Parsons is the CEO and Founder of GoDaddy.com. Everyone knows the name from the infamous Super Bowl ads of the past couple years. What most people don't know is the success that the company has achieved.

I first read about the man behind the ads in a Business 2.0 article. What impressed me the most was his unapologetic success. He is a working class stiff, from a working class neighborhood, that seeks opportunity that he creates for himself. In the article it mentioned the different internet marketing outlets that Bob Parsons uses to voice his opinions and shape the world he sees. I checked out his blog and radio show. In his blog I stumbled upon his 16 rules to try to live by. These are pretty simple rules to live by, and if you can live up to them should make for a fairly enjoyable life.

Bob Parsons is a brash, unapologetic, often disliked, working class leader. These are the same qualities touted by our current President. So what in my opinion makes one a good leader and the other not. Its pretty simple really, as a leader you live and die by your decisions. When the decisions you make sink you and the people around you, then you are not fit to lead. When the decisions you make do work you get the label of leader rightfully bestowed on you. This is true whether people like or dislike you.